La Tricolor brings Colombian street food culture to Huntingburg
About a year ago, Jen and Franklin Quimbaya launched their food truck, La Tricolor, serving up the sweet flavors of Colombia around the area.
As they became more popular, many customers asked about more traditional foods like empanadas and arepas.
“Maybe in the future,” Franklin said at the time.
The idea took root, and about six months after starting their new business, they began looking to expand into a more permanent location to provide a Colombian menu. They were searching for something in Dubois County but weren’t having much luck, and had even checked out space in Washington, when a friend suggested they look at a spot on Fourth Street in Huntingburg.
It was already rented to a Colombian family planning to open their own concept in the space, but as their plans hadn’t panned out, they were looking for someone to take over the lease. So Franklin and Jen decided to bring their restaurant to life there, and after taking over the lease in February, the couple, with tremendous help from their families, renovated the building.
In May, they held a soft opening in the transformed building at 304 East 4th Street. Formerly the location of Old School Cafe, it has been transformed into a vibrant restaurant that reflects the beauty of Colombian culture.
The couple, who live in Jasper with their two children, held a soft opening May 7 that they expected to be a quiet, three-hour affair for friends and family. Instead, word spread fast on Facebook and TikTok, and the night turned into a crowd ready to sample the couple’s new flavors.
“That night was absolutely crazy,” Jen said. “We didn’t have enough personnel to attend to everybody. My parents, his parents, friends — everybody came into the kitchen and tried to help us out.”
The rush has since leveled off into a steady stream of regulars, Jen said, drawn back by the food and the personal attention the restaurant offers.
“We couldn’t have done it without all the help from our families,” Jen said about the opening.
While the sweet menu featured in their food truck is still available, they now offer an expanded menu of popular Colombian street gourmet and a “stuffed arepas” menu centered on white- and yellow-corn arepas, plus breakfast and house-special platters.
On the street-gourmet side, the Mazorcada La Suprema is sweet, sautéed corn loaded with chorizo, pork belly and pulled pork, topped with sweet plantain bits, caramelized onion, melted cheese and the restaurant’s house sauces. The Salchipapa La Patrona XL piles pulled chicken, pulled pork and bacon over French fries with melted cheese, shredded lettuce, shoestring fries and parmesan — the loaded-fries dish Jen described as a crossover meant to introduce American customers to Colombian flavors.
The Colombian crossovers continue with a special hot dog and even a double cheeseburger that incorporates unique flavors from South America.
The stuffed arepas menu features the restaurant’s namesake dish, La Tricolor — an arepa topped with beef, chicken, pulled pork, sautéed corn, onion, chorizo and melted cheese — alongside La Ranchera stuffed with scrambled eggs, pulled pork and sautéed corn, and the Paisa, loaded with beef in hogao, crispy pork belly, chorizo and plantain.
Empanadas and arepas are made in-house daily from scratch, starting with cooking and grinding whole corn — a process Jen said requires closing two days a week just to keep up with production. Both are naturally gluten-free, made from corn rather than wheat and are fried alongside two house-made sauces: a cilantro-based sauce and a “secret” pink sauce made with ketchup, mayonnaise and “And other special ingredients,” Jen winks, not revealing the secret.
House specials include a full Bandeja Paisa and a Colombian Platter meant for sharing, along with Colombian sodas and fresh lemonade.
Though all the recipes are their own renditions, the daily lunch specials are directly from Jen’s own recipes. “I love to cook,” she said.
Jen said the restaurant’s décor — photos and imagery celebrating Colombia — was a deliberate choice.
“We wanted to characterize Colombia, so when you come in here, you know you came into a Colombian restaurant,” they said.
The Quimbayas believe La Tricolor is the first Colombian restaurant in southern Indiana outside Indianapolis. Both are proud of their Colombian heritage, though they call Dubois County their home.
“Give us a try, try something new,” Jen said. “We want to show you a bit of our culture. Show you a bit of Colombia. Who we are.”
La Tricolor is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. It is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. You can follow them on Facebook here, and the phone number is 812-489-4043.
Here is the story we did last year on the food truck.
